Decoder switch for coded electric circuits



Jan. 9, 1968 T. J. TWIETMEYER 3,363,069

DECODER SWITCH FOR CODED ELECTRIC CIRCUITS Filed Sept. 7, 1965 UnitedStates Patent 3,363,069 DECODER SWITCH FOR CODED ELECTRIC CIRCUITSTheodore J. Twietmeyer, Rochester, NY. (250 Lakeshore Drive, Hilton, NY.14468) Filed Sept. 7, 1965, Ser. No. 485,426 2 Claims. (Cl. 200-45)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is disclosed an electric switchassembly comprising a plurality of electrical switches with the Contactmembers of at least one switch being constructed and arranged foractuation only by the rearward tilting movement of a cover memberrelative to a relatively stationary support structure, and with thecontact members of at least another switch being constructed andarranged for actuation only by the straight axial rearward movement ofthe cover member relative to the support structure.

This invention relates to a switch for use with what is called a codedelectric circuit. Such circuits are known in various fields; forexample, electrically operated door locks, or electrically operatedgarage door openers, or various types of machinery. The electric circuitmay take many different forms, well known in the art, and the details ofthe circuit are unimportant so far as the present invention isconcerned. The invention relates only to the switch which is used tooperate the circuit to decode it to obtain the desired result. The codedcircuit as a Whole involves several individual circuits which have to beclosed in a predetermined sequence in order to obtain the desiredoperation. For example, assuming that there are four separate circuitsdesignated by the numerals 1, 2, 3, and 4, the coding mechanism may beso arranged that the circuits must be closed in the order 1, 3, 4, 2, orfor example in the order 4, 1, 3, 2, or any other selected permutation,in order to cause the desired operation or actuation of the controlmechanism, for example to release a door lock, or operate a garage dooropening mechanism, or whatever else is to be accomplished by the controlmechanism.

An object of the invention is the provision of a generally improved andmore satisfactory switch which may be used for closing a plurality ofseparate electric circuits in a selected sequence.

Another object is the provision of improved switch mechanism of simpleand compact construction, and not likely to get out of order.

Another object is the provision of a switch contained within a plain ordecorative cover, which can perform the functions of a cluster of fiveseparate push-button switches.

Still another object is the provision of a switch assembly which,although of a very compact size, may function effectively both as adoorbell switch and as a decoder switch.

A further object is the provision of a switch which is substantiallyweatherproof and watertight, at least so far as rain and snow areconcerned.

A still further object is the provision of a switch which is easy toinstall, and difiicut to tamper with or take apart once it has beeninstalled.

Another object is the provision of a decoder switch which may beoperated entirely by pressure applied to the cover of the switchassembly.

These and other desirable objects may be attained in the mannerdisclosed as an illustrative embodiment of ice the invention in thefollowing description and in the accompanying drawings forming a parthereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the switch assembly in fully assembledcondition and in normal rest position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing the switch assembly actuatedto close one of the circuits controlled by the switch;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating various componentparts of the switch assembly; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross section taken longitudinally through theswitch, on an enlarged scale.

Referring first to FIGS. 3 and 4, the switch in its preferred formcomprises a mounting plate or base plate 11, molded preferably fromcomparatively rigid plastic material, and having typical dimensions, forexample, of about 1 /2 inches square and /8 inch thick, although thesedimensions, and any others that may be mentioned in this application,are given only as typical examples and not as limitations upon theinvention.

This base plate contains a central hole 13 of rather large size, throughwhich the various electric circuit wires may enter the space within theswitch, and also, on diametrically opposite sides of the opening 13, twoscrew holes 15, countersunk as shown, to receive flat head screws forfastening the base plate 11 to any suitable structure on which it ismounted, such as a doorpost or doorjamb.

Two opposite edges of the plate 11 also have grooves 21, extendingthrough only part of the length of the edges in which they arerespectively located, as seen in FIG. 3. These grooves 21 are engaged bysmall inwardly extending ribs 23 formed on the hollow rectangular bodymember 25 molded from rigid plastic material and of a size to fit snuglyaround the four edges of the base plate or mounting plate 11, and toextend forwardly from this plate 11 for a suitable distance, such as A2inch. Although the member 25 has been described as being molded fromrigid plastic material, there is actually enough resilience in thismember so that the ribs or projections 23 can be sprung or snapped intothe grooves 21 of the plate 11,

and will remain therein to anchor the member 25 firmly onto the plate11, until rather considerable force is used to spring the projectionsout of the grooves and separate the parts.

At its forward edge, the inner face of the member 25 is slightlyrabbeted or recessed at 27, to form a slight shoulder 29 which serves asa seat for holding the edges of the insulating plate 31 on which theswitch contact parts are mounted. The plate 31 is held frictionally inposition in its mounting recess 27, 29.

The switch contact members comprise flexible metallic strips of copperor other suitable flexible metal of good electric conductivity. Forexample, there may be an upper horizontal strip 41 (using the wordhorizontal only for convenience of description when the parts areoriented as illustrated in FIG. 3, since obviously the switch assemblymay be mounted in any desired position of orientation). This first strip41 is held by rivets 43 which pass through the insulating plate 31, andthe rear ends of one or both of the rivets 43 are connected to anelectric circuit wire which goes out through the hole 13 in the baseplate 11. If the right hand end of the strip 41 is depressed (that is,moved rearwardly) it makes electric contact with a metallic stud 45which extends through the insulating plate 31. If the left end of thestrip 41 is depressed rearwardly, it makes contact with another metallicstud 47 which likewise extends through the insulating plate 31. The rearends of the studs 35 and 47 are connected to separate electric circuitwires or conductors which pass out through the hole 13.

Near the bottom of the insulating plate 31 is a second 3 horizontallyextending flexible contact strip 51 similar to the strip 41 andsimilarly held by rivets 53. When the right hand end of this strip isdepressed rearwardly, it makes electric contact with a stud 55, and whenthe left end is depressed it makes contact with a metallic stud 57,similar to the studs 45 and 47 above mentioned. As with the other studs,electric circuit wires pass rearwardly from these studs, out through thehole 13, and there is also a circuit wire operatively connected to therivets 53, although this may be the same circuit wire connected to therivets 43, depending upon the particular circuit arrangement employed.

In addition to the two contact strips 41 and 51, there are two otherresilient metallic strips 61 and 63 mounted together at approximatelythe center of the insulated plate 31, by means of rivets 65, so thatthese two strips 61 and 63 form a cross. If they are depressedrearwardly, the free arms of the strip 61 will come down on top of butcannot make electric contact with the rivets 43 and 53, because the topsof these rivets are coated with insulating paint or lacquer. However,the free arms of the other strip 63 will make electric contact with andestablish a connection between the studs 67 and 69 which are mounted onthe insulating plate 31. Suitable circuit wires or conductors leadrearwardly from these studs 67 and 69, out through the hole 13.

Enclosing the switch contact members and forming a front cover for theentire assembly, is a cover member 71, somewhat cup-shaped. It has afront wall 73 and integral side walls 75 which extend rearwardlytherefrom, all molded from rigid plastic material which, however, hassuflicient resilience so that a very slight inwardly extending rib orflange 77, extending all the way around the inner faces of the sidewalls 75 at the rear edge thereof, can snap over an external projection81 extending peripherally around the circumference of the member 25 andseat behind this projection 81, as seen especially in FIG. 4. This holdsthe cover member 71 in place on the tubular body member 25, preventingremoval therefrom unless considerable force is used to pry it ofif themember 25. The external face of the tubular body member 25 is slightlytapered as seen in FIGS. 3 and4, so that as the cover member is thrustrearwardly onto the tubular body, the taper will slightly expand therear end of the cover member 71 until the rib 77 snaps over the shoulder81.

Although the cover 71 is held against forward movement by engagement ofthe rib 77 with the shoulder or projection 81, yet it can freely moveaxially rearwardly in telescopic relation to the body member 25, and thefit is sufliciently loose so it can also tilt with respect to the bodymember. It is normally held in its forward position (determined byengagement of the parts 77 and 81 with each other) by the springycontact strips 61 and 63, the free ends of which engage the inner faceof the front wall 730i the cover member and tend to push it gentlyforwardly away from the insulating plate 31.

It will be noted especially from FIG. 3 that the free ends of all fourof the strips 41, 51, 61, and 63 have enlargements, formed for exampleby curling or rounding the ends as illustrated. The curled ends of thestrips 61 and 63 are of larger diameter than those on the strips 41 and51. All the curled ends normally engage the fiat rear face of the frontwall 73 of the cover. When the cover is pressed straight rearwardly,without cocking or tilting, the strip 63 will make contact with andclose the circuit between the studs 67 and 69, but the other strips 41and 51 do not make contact with their respective studs 45, 47, 55, and57, because the larger size of the curls or enlargeas shown in FIGS.1-3, and preferably also the front face of the cover is provided with asmall projection at its center, as seen at 89, to simulate theappearance of a doorbell push button and to indicate to a stranger wherehe should push in order to ring the doorbell. Also any desireddecoration, design, or color effect may be embodied in or carried by thecover.

With this construction, it is seen thatif one pushes rearwardly on anyone corner of the cover 71, the cover will move the enlargements on theadjacent ends of the strips 61 and 63 rearwardly as far'as they can go,then when they can go no further they will act as fulcrums on which thecover will tilt so that it will close the contact between one or theother of the horizontal strips 41 and 51, and the particular stud whichis located at that corner which was pressed rearwardly, thus activatingone of-the electric circuits. For example, if the code for opening aparticular door is 2-341, a person knowing the code presses rearwardlyfirst at the corner 2, as indicated in FIG. 2 of the drawings. Thiscloses the circuit between the contact strip 41 and the stud 45, withoutclosing any of the other circuits. Then the person operating the switchreleases the rearward pressure, and presses next on corner-3, whichcloses the circuit between the strip 51 and the stud 57. Then thepressure is released again, and the other corners 4 and l are pressed insuccession, thus completing the closing of the circuits in propersequence to operate the coded electric mechanism which, as above stated,is well known in the art and is not part of the present invention. Thisoperates the door lock or whatever else it is that is controlled by theparticular coded circuit.

A stranger, not knowing the code, would look fora doorbell to press, andwould see the projection 89 at the center of the front face of the covermember 71, which has somewhat the general appearance of a doorbellbutton or plunger. Therefore, he would press rearwardly on the centralportion 89 of the cover. This rearward pressure at the center wouldcarry the entire cover rearwardly without tilting or cocking it, thusclosing the circuit between the strip 63 and the studs 67 and 69, whichare in the doorbell circuit, ringing the doorbell or other appropriatesignal in the house. Of course this circuit between the studs 67 and 69is available as a fifth circuit for a fivedigit code, if it is preferredto utilize it in this way, rather than as a doorbell circuit.

The snug fit of the cover 71 around the edges of the tubular body member25, and the engagement of the internal rib 77 on the cover member behindthe external rib.

or shoulder 81 on the body member 25, makes the con structionsubstantially weatherproof and waterproof so far as ordinary rain andsnow conditions are concerned.

The fact that the cover member is approximately 2 inches square, largerthan an ordinary push button switch,

ments on the ends of the strips 61 and 63 prevents the cover from movingfar enough back to close the other contacts. It is only when the covertilts, and pivots on makes it easy for the householder to operate iteven when there are gloves on his hands or packages in his arms. Withthe back of his knuckles or even with his el how, he can press theswitch cover at the desired corners in proper sequence, to operate thecoded mechanism and thereby let himself into his house, without removingthe packages from his arms or having to take off his gloves to reach foror manipulate a key.

Another advantage of this construction, in which the decoder switch isoperated entirely through the cover member thereof, is that it does nothave an appearance likely to give rise to tampering by children of theneighborhood. Coded circuits have sometimes been operated by a series ofseparate push button switches mounted adjacent each other. A series ofpush buttons constitute an invitation to youngsters in the neighborhoodto try them out and see what happens. But the present switch, with allparts neatly enclosed within a single cover, does not have thefascinating appearance of a series of separate switches and does notattract the particular attention orv curiosity of children. Thus thehouseholder is spared a considerable amount of the grief which oftenarises from having conventional decoder switches of some of the kindsheretofore used.

It is seen from the foregoing disclosure that the objects and purposesof the invention are well fulfilled. It is to be understood that theforegoing disclosure is given by way of illustrative example only,rather than by way of limitation, and that without departing from theinvention, the details may be varied within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A multiple electric switch assembly comprising a stationary tubularhousing member of generally square outline, a cover member also ofgenerally square outline having a tubular flange extending rearwardly intelescopic relation to said housing member, the fit between said housingmember and said flange on said cover member being sufliciently loose sothat said cover member may tilt with respect to said housing member aswell as move in a straight axial direction relative thereto withouttilting, an insulating plate mounted in stationary position on saidtubular housing member, a plurality of strips of resilient metal mountedon said insulating plate and extending obliquely forwardly therefrom andengaging said cover to urge said cover resiliently forwardly, two ofsaid strips being parallel to each other and extending approximatelyalong two opposite edges of said insulating plate and being mounted onsaid plate approximately at their mid points, two others of said stripscrossing each other at right angles and being mounted with their midpoints approximately at the center of said plate and with one of the twolast mentioned strips extending parallel to the two first mentionedstrips, and a plurality of electric contact studs mounted on saidinsulating plate in pos tions respectively underlying the ends of thetwo fir mentioned strips and the ends of that one of the la mentionedstrips which is parallel to the first mentions strips, to make contactwith the respective ends of ti respective strips when the respectivestrips are deflecte rearwardly by rearward movement of said cover membethe ends of the two strips which cross each other beir enlarged to actas stops that limit rearward movement said cover member to the extentthat said cover membe cannot deflect either of the two first mentionedstri into contact with any of their respective studs unless an until thecover member is rearwardly tilted in the regio thereof, while permittingsaid cover member to deflet said last mentioned strip into contact withthe studs co: responding thereto only when said cover member is movestraight axially rearwardly.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1, in which sai housing member andsaid cover member are both mac' of molded plastic material and in whichthey have int grally molded cooperating abutment surfaces limiting f0:ward movement of said cover member relative to sai housing member underthe influence of said resilier metal strips.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,998,995 4/1935 Petersen 200172I 2,863,010 12/1958 Riedl 2006 I 1,716,373 6/1929 Ellis 200- ROBERT K.SCHAEFER, Primary Examiner.

H. HOHAUSER, Assistant Examiner.

